Revising A "Tweet"

Earlier I wrote this: Alone on the beach I am at sunset a silhouette from a distance to be engulfed by that of earth and in that darkness I am part of the universe.

Like a musician who sometimes writes variations on a theme, I'm going to do the same: Alone on the beach I am at sunset a silhouette from a distance waiting to be engulfed by that of earth to become part of the universe.

The original entry is like a diptych going from twilight that is earth on one panel to night that encompasses the universe of planets, stars and galaxies on the other, and is metaphorically about existing in solitude (an imagination) to being part of a huge party where nobody can be absent (a reality). The variation is more like a self-portrait on a single canvas than a diptych, representing my life as it is ending just as the day is ending and showing me alone waiting for that which is inevitable - death - and pondering the eventual decomposition and transformation of the body to other biological and chemical matters that were part of the universe from which they came.

Here the Catholic saying on Ash Wednesday: "From dust, to dust you shall return," is apropos. In that sense, the flesh and bones dressing up the soul are temporal. Beyond the temporal is an eternity and it is during life, in particular in final stretch, that I hopefully have the strength to take a stroll along the beach and the mind to reflect on the existence and eternity of non-decomposable matter - the soul, and to seek the cleansing of sin and the blessing of transfiguration in order to be re-united with the Creator.